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Selling Houses Australia - S12 EP11 Queanbeyan NSW

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Frances Henderson and her beautiful golden retriever Charlie live in a large house in the city of Queanbeyan in southern New South Wales. She purchased the 4-bedder 5 years ago on a whim, but a few months later suffered buyer’s remorse – realising it was too big for her, worn around the edges and strangely enough it’s painted purple!

Despite stunning views of Canberra and a pool, her home stayed on the market for 6 months and several open houses later, Frances didn’t have a single offer even in a market that’s doing quite well and much cheaper than nearby Canberra. Problem is, Frances’ home is at the upper echelon of prices and needs to be presented perfectly. So is it the confused floor plan, jungle garden or the purple exterior putting off buyers? Whatever it is, she and partner Rick need our help moving on and finding their forever home.

Interior

Bound by a tight budget and the risk of overcapitalising, Shaynna had to really pick her battles. Her main focus was the kitchen which was 30 years out of date and had a mish mash of materials including a strange contrast of light and dark colours. Shaynna replaced the island bench with a longer stone bench top to give the kitchen better purpose for a family.

KITCHEN

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To fix the floor plan in the main living area – Shaynna put walls up and sectioned off the redundant formal dining. This then created a much more intimate lounge room, and a giant butler’s pantry for the kitchen, adding much needed storage.

DINING ROOM

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BUTLER'S PANTRY

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Shaynna went for a Hamptons style look to make it a cut above the display home competition. She drew inspiration from Frances’s recently purchased plantation shutters and added more to the house, replacing the old ugly drape curtains.

TV LOUNGE

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Luxaflex PolySatin Shutters were installed throughout, helping to create a light and airy mood to accentuate the Hamptons feel Shaynna sought to achieve. The clean lines and wooden-look of the white PolySatin Shutters also brought out a strong sense of character, elevating the house to the next level and distinguishing it from similar properties on the market.

To keep a cohesive look, all windows and doors were fitted with shutters, with sliding (by-pass) models to support the sliding doors, and hinged models for the smaller windows. PolySatin Shutters are highly versatile to suit many applications, even suitable for bathrooms and laundries with high humidity levels. The water-resistant and exceptionally durable design allows the shutters to be low maintenance, enduring and easily cleaned, perfect for homes with large expanses of windows.

LIVING ROOM

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The lounge room was very dark, not helped by the dungeon-like courtyard. So Shaynna painted the walls even darker and added light coloured furniture to give the room high contrast and personality. Quirky features like the many plastic chandeliers were replaced with more modern light fittings to appeal to a broader audience.

ENTRY

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Fortunately the bedrooms at the other wing of the house and spaces upstairs were in good condition and only needed a tidy up. The floral window pelmets and disproportioned sheers in the master bedroom were discarded, with Luxaflex Duette Shades fitted in its place. The Blockout fabric was a crucial upgrade, giving the room the privacy and light blockage it needed.

MASTER BEDROOM

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Exterior

Street appeal is do or die in real estate so Charlie’s first challenge was ditching the purple paint on the façade and retaining walls. He chose a more modern stony colour to appeal to a wider audience and complement the natural colours of the area. His other focus out the front was lightening up the courtyard aka dungeon. He lushed and lightened it up by adding shade tolerant plants in giant white pots and continuing the lighter paint on the walls. Goodbye dungeon, hello grand entrance!

FRONT EXTERIOR

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The backyard resembled more of a jungle with overgrown plants, an ugly leaky pergola, and a hidden pool. To open the space up and bring in more light, he got rid of the pergola and cut back the wisteria but left a section around the side.

BACKYARD

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Limestone pavers helped brighten up what now looked like a very large outdoor entertaining space. Charlie added furniture and a compliant fence to the pool which after pruning was now in clear sight.

POOL

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The garden needed to be cut back, but instead of putting in many plants which would’ve cost a bomb, he showed how mulch can be a cheaper option to make an area look nicer. Charlie also reused brick pavers from below to extend the area around the pool.

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The verdict

After going to auction, the final bidder made an offer of $720,000. After the auctioneer spoke to Frances, who dropped her reserve to $750,000. The couple agreed, resulting in her home being sold under auction conditions.